Someone Like You
by Finding Tobias
Summary: The breakup between Throttle and Carbine was ugly. When Carbine's daughter Rose goes missing, they are forced to put their differences aside and work together.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : I don't own the Biker Mice From Mars. This short (ficlet?) is inspired by Adele's "Someone Like You" which I don't own either.

A small whimper wakes her. Carbine opens her eyes and waits trying to judge if she needs to get up to comfort the baby mouse in the next room. Funny, it used to be guns and bikes, now it's bottles and diapers. Her partner stirs in the bed beside her mumbling something about someone damaging the garbage disposal. "Those damn trees." He mutters.

 _What I would give to only worry about the state of the garbage disposal_ , she thinks.

The baby stirs again and whimpers a bit more urgently. Carbine sighs and sits up. She's probably hungry. How many times tonight? She's lost count. Chassis has managed to sleep through most of it. He could sleep through a bomb going off. He almost did, once.

Carbine slips her feet into her slippers and gets out of bed and walks down to the nursery, where her daughter, Rose sleeps. The amount of fussing increases when she opens the door. Carbine picks up the tawny colored mouse and holds her close to her chest rocking her to soothe her hungry cries. She hums an old lullaby as she checks her diaper, and then carries Rose to the rocking chair. When given the breast, Rose suckles greedily.

Her name should have been Polestar, but Carbine named her Rose after Throttle's favorite flower. He gave her a bouquet of them once. They were red.

Throttle.

Thoughts of him become unbidden to her mind. She shouldn't think of him. He should stay in the past where he belonged. However, she often thought of him in the early hours when everyone was asleep except for her.

She wonders what he's doing right now. Who he's with and if he's found someone. Many of the female mice found him attractive and she's sure he could have his pick if he wanted. Jealousy eats away at her. She knows how they watch him and whisper when he was in the vicinity. They made sure she was watching when they flirted with him. She knows what they say about her.

Carbine switches Rose over to the other breast. Mars was in semi-peacetime right now so her leadership isn't needed. Stoker's taken over. The war against the Plutarkians has stalled at the moment. A perfect time to have a child. A surprise no one had expected, including Chassis and Carbine.

Throttle and his bros were back and training for the Plutarkians' next move, because they never went quietly. He and his bros went back to Earth frequently to check on things and visit their human who kept them abreast of the situation on the planet. Charley. That was her name. At first, she had pegged her as competition but then she noticed how she doted on and put up with Vinnie's oddly endearing egomania.

She tries to remember their schedule. Not being tied down to a unit, they disappeared and reappeared as they pleased. Modo stayed here with his nephew Rimfire. Vinnie, to everyone's surprise spent it with Charley, the feisty mechanic from Earth. Throttle just seemed to split his time between both places like some sort of vagabond.

Yes, that would be a good word to describe him. And loyal to a fault. Him and his polar shades and leather vest. Gods, how he deserves better than her. The blame for the failure of their relationship lands squarely on her. _I should have known better…. But the uncertainty. How was I supposed to know if he was going to come back alive or at all?_

Rose finishes her meal and is now content with a full belly. She has a voracious appetite, just like her father. Carbine puts her over her shoulder to burp her.

"I hate myself," She says to no one in particular. "This wasn't the way it was supposed to go."

Throttle should be where Chassis slept. He should be helping her with the baby, not Chassis.

This harmless fling with Chassis was supposed to be a one night stand, but eventually it morphed into more. He's a good mouse. A good fighter. Loyal. He filled the space that Throttle left in his absence. He'd take care of them, her and Rose. And he loved them. That's all that mattered now. It wasn't about her any more. Rose's well being is a priority.

"When are you going to make us a priority?" Throttle's angry words enter her mind from one of their last fights. "Or was I ever a priority to you?"

Carbine bites back tears. "Us?" She had shouted back at him. "What about Mars? If I don't lead, then who will? Stoker's not what he used to be. What about the greater good for our people?"

"You don't have to fix everything. If you don't want to be with me, then tell me so I can get on with my life."

"Where does your loyalty lie?" She accused him. "Is there someone else? Some whore you found on Earth to warm your bed?"

His fist crashed through the communication consuls decimating the keyboard. The second one this week. "Seriously? After all we've been through, you're going to accuse me of that? You of all people. And if there is? What are you going to do about it? You haven't exactly been faithful."

What followed was a vicious cycle of apologies, empty promises, and mind-blowing sex. Carbine didn't break it off with Chassis because what if Throttle left again? Chassis helped ease some of the loneliness. One thing that terrified Carbine is being alone. A therapist chalked it up as a result of her dad walking out on her life when she was seven. Daddy issues. Great.

Give her lines of Plutarkians, blood and war, she's fine, but it's those times when she's alone with her own thoughts and feelings that scare her.

 _I should have ended it with Chassis_ , she thinks. _I wouldn't be in this mess if I had_. She cradles Rose and strokes her tiny forehead, feeling the downy fur underneath her fingers. She doesn't look anything like Chassis and she certainly didn't inherit his sleeping habits. Maybe it's too soon to know. The baby mouse smiles in her sleep as Carbine rocks her.

She picks up her comm and scrolls through the different contacts until she gets to Throttle's. She aches to talk to him and hear his deep husky voice. But for what? She wonders. He's probably moved on, and I should do the same. Besides, it's three in the morning. The comm slips through her fingers and bounces on the floor. She lets it lay there.

Rose sighs in her sleep, giving her another half-smile that semi-resembles Throttle's smirk. Or maybe that's what she wants to think. Maybe she secretly wants Rose to be Throttle's. Gods know, she certainly wasn't careful in her escapades and certainly a possibility. Carbine leans back in the rocking chair and rocks them both slowly trying to ease the guilt that settles in the pit of her stomach. What's done is done. Nothing can change it.

Memories of his expression when he caught her in bed with Chassis. It first started as shock and then horror that had come over his face. His eyes were obscured by the field specs, but they did nothing to hide the tears the flowed from his eyes. He attacked Chassis and dragged him out of the bed and beat the everliving snot out of him. Throttle was strong and experienced, Chassis not so much. Chassis came into his rank by inheritance being the Martian Army General's son.

Throttle needed to be pulled off of him by his two bros and Stoker. Modo refused to speak to her for two weeks preferring to get their orders through Stoker or have Rimfire act as a go between. Can't say she blamed him. Hell, she wouldn't have talked to her either if she pull that stunt on one of her colleagues. Vinnie made thinly veiled snide remarks about her. She looks down at Rose, if a man pulled that on her daughter he'd have hell to pay. She'd make sure of it.

A loud knock echos on the door. If someone wakes her baby, someone's going to get their tail kicked. Rose begins to cry. Not a faint whimper but a high pitch scream. Carbine swears under her breath as she storms to the door. "You better have a good reason…" The words die on her lips as Throttle stands there leaning against the door frame, arms crossed in front of his chest. He lets out a low whistle. "You look like hell."

"Thanks," Carbine snaps trying to soothe the baby over her shoulder. "Sleep is a little scarce around here with a two month old."

"Where's Chassis? Isn't he supposed to be helping?" Modo asks.

"Can't you turn that thing off?" Vinnie interjects covering his ears.

"She was was sleeping. YOU woke her up." Carbine says.

"Is…is that another phrase for you break it, you buy it?" Vinnie asks.

"How about I kick your ass."

Throttle steps in between them and holds up his hands. "You called me. I thought something was wrong so we came."

She always did admire his professionalism. He always treated her with respect even when she didn't always return the courtesy.

"I didn't." Carbine says.

"Yes, you did."

"You don't remember calling Throttle?" Modo asks.

And I called you back and there was no answer. I thought that bastard was hurting you. I…" Throttle's hand balls up in a fist.

"If I did it, was an accident." She tries to remember if she called anyone. "I don't even know where my comm is at the moment."

"Man," Vinnie whines. "And here I was all ready to blow something up. Kick some Plutarkian a—"

Modo clamps a hand over the white mouse's mouth. "Not in front of the little one," he says sternly.

"But she's a baby," Vinnie retorts.

The gray mouse glares at him with his one good eye. "Doesn't matter. You watch your mouth, understand? As my gray furred mama used to say babes are like sponges they soak up everything."

Rose fusses a little on her shoulder. Carbine strokes her back and rocks her attempting to placate her. As mad as she is about the Biker Mice waking Rose up, she's glad to see Throttle. "Can we talk?" she asks and then glances at Modo and Vinnie. "Alone?"

Throttle nods and enters the living space. He shuts the door behind him. "I really thought Chassis would be more help."

Carbine snorts. "He doesn't have the goods. More often than not, when she cries only Mama can fix the problem. Do you want to hold her?"

"Will she let me?"

"I guess we'll find out."

"What if Chassis wakes up and finds out I'm here?"

"So?" Carbine says. "It wouldn't be the first time. You're just not allowed to kill him. My child needs a father."

"He's a deadbeat, Carbine. His father was traitor to our planet, what makes you think he's any better?" Throttle asks.

"People change." She gestures to the couch, ignoring his previous comment. "Stay awhile?"

To her surprise, he sits down. "It's three in the morning."

"I know." She smiles tiredly. "I'm running on very few hours of sleep myself. I am quite aware of that. Anything new in the Plutarkian front?"

Throttle shakes his head and stifles a yawn. "No, everything is quiet. It's kind of strange, but…" He yawns again. "Maybe we got them good this last time."

"Or they're gearing up for something big and trying to lull us into a false sense of security." She answers. "Here hold out your arms. I'll let you hold her."

"What's her name?"

"Rose." Carbine says, as she puts the baby into his arms. "After your favorite flower, I know. Throttle. I'm sorry." The words flood out of her. "I shouldn't have treated you like that. I made a mistake. If I could do it all again, I'd end it with Chassis. I know what they say about me. It's true. I am a heartless bitch, and I have no excuse for my behavior. I'm selfish, and goddamn it, you were right. I never made us a priority. And I didn't because I was scared. I was scared that if you truly saw what I was you'd leave. You truly do deserve better than me."

Throttle doesn't answer as he cradles Rose awkwardly. "Does he make you happy?"

"Who?"

"Chassis."

"He's a good guy." Carbine says carefully. She picks up a pacifier that lies on the coffee table and pops it in the baby's mouth. She sucks at it furiously as she snuggles in Throttle's arms. "I'm happy enough."

"I've never known you to settle."

Carbine shrugs and doesn't meet his eyes. "I have her to think about now."

"What about leading the Freedom Fighters?"

"I don't know. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

"Did she inherit her father's sleeping habits?" Throttle jokes.

"Pfft. No. I could have killed you. I just got her back to sleep. But seriously, I was a monster when it came to sleeping when I was a child so this is probably karma." Carbine says.

Karma seems to be catching up to her pretty quick these days.

"I was too. I still have pretty bad insomnia. Part of it is I don't want to deal with watching people die over and over again and not being able to save them. Karbunkle's lab. I don't know why I'm telling you this…" his voice trails off.

"It's okay. I have them too," Carbine admits. She reaches out and touches his arm. He doesn't push her away.

"War is hell." He rocks Rose. "If I have my way, she'll live on a planet where there aren't any Plutarkians and lead a normal life. Not like us."

Carbine blink back tears. They trickle down her cheeks, she doesn't bother to wipe them away. "I hope so. I hope the peace holds."

"Why are you crying?" Throttle asks huskily.

"It's three in the morning. Why the hell not?"

"I don't think that's quite the reason," he chuckles.

"Because I don't think I'm cut out to be a mother. I can't even keep a plant alive."

"The Pinkseed plant?"

"I just transported it to Mars. I didn't touch it after that, and even then it still died. They were able to harvest the seeds and start new plants before it died. I killed a cactus. Do you know how hard it is to kill one of those?"

Throttle chuckles. "I think it's different with your own offspring. They're actually sentient and will tell you when they need something as opposed to a Pinkseed plant which just sits there. And being in Limburger's tower probably didn't help so I wouldn't be too hard on yourself."

She sighs. "Maybe."

The resemblance between him and Rose is uncanny. She wonders if he sees it too.

He gazes at Rose over the rims of his field specs. "What do you want from me, Carbine?"

"What do you mean?"

He snorts. "You accidentally call me at three am, let me hold your baby, and then apologize? That's not like you at all." He muses. "You never admit when you're wrong."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Carbine hisses. "I—"

"She's mine isn't she?"

Carbine opens her mouth and then closes it again. "I don't know. You really want to risk your reputation to find out?"

"The only reputation that's on the line is yous." He carefully hands the baby mouse back to her. "But if that idyllic family with the white picket fence and a dog, as they say on Earth, is what you want, by all means, go ahead. It's only a matter of time that Chassis realizes that she's not his."

"Don't you dare tell him."

An expression of surprise crosses his face. "Me? Oh, hell no. That's your dirty little secret."

"What? Are you jealous, Throttle?" Carbine spits.

"Jealous that he gets to raise that beautiful little girl? Sure. But having to deal with you? Absolutely not." Throttle gets to his feet and stretches.

"What's that's supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you babe, you're so used to getting your way that you don't understand what it means to make room for other people. I would do anything for you, and you know that." Throttle says shaking his head.

"I still love you, Throttle. I never stopped. If you would just give me another chance—" Carbine says. She holds Rose close to her chest.

"If you thought your elaborate trap of calling me here to and holding the baby would bring us back together, you were wrong. I am not taking you back, now I know that you're only staying with him to spite me."

"How dare you accuse me of that."

"Oh, I dare." He chuckles pulling down his shades to reveal his red bionic eyes. She wonders if the med officers ever managed to make them work, or if their work had been in vain. Becoming blind had taken him down a few notches.

"Get. Out." She snarls.

"Careful. Don't wake my daughter." He taunts.

"Go to hell."

"Goodnight, Carbine." Throttle moves to the door, his hand rests on the doorknob. "We always did bring out the worst in each other."

"I thought things would have been different between us." Carbine answers, feeling her heart shattering into a million pieces. "Maybe we could have been friends again. Or at least that you still loved me."

"Sometimes the one you want isn't the one you need." He says quietly. "I hope he's good to you Carbine, and you can move on for both of our sakes, and for Rose's."

"Throttle wait. Please." She bites her lip to keep it from trembling. Tears well up in her eyes.

He hesitates. "Don't make this any harder than it already is."

"You could have ignored my call."

"Yes, but you should know me by now." A single tear runs down his face. The door clicks quietly behind him. He's gone.

Carbine carries Rose into the nursery and lays her down in her crib. Rose stirs a bit, but then settles back to sleep. The resemblance to Throttle is uncanny. There's no way, Chassis wouldn't be able to tell. Carbine slumps in the rocking chair and buries her face in her hands. Sobs escape her lips. It's truly over. Throttle would go on with his life without her.

 **Please Review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Biker Mice from Mars.

 **A/N** : Thanks for the reviews! I was pleasantly surprised how much people liked this. It was actually meant to be a one shot, but after some thought there's a lot I can do with this. So. Onward and Upward. Just be warned that it's NaNoWriMo and updates might be a little slow as this is one of the *counts* now three? Projects I plan to do. I'm slightly ambitious.

This chapter is inspired by Marianas Trench's "By Now" and "Fallout."

"Now that you have him, you don't need me." Throttle sneers. Anger courses through his body and he struggles to keep it from punching out the nearest wall or her flipping nice wooden coffee table that she probably whined her way to get. He's painfully aware of the fragile bundle of life in his arms. He makes sure not to squeeze her too hard. It takes every ounce of effort not to leave with her in his arms. He hands back the baby mouse lest he drops her or he squeezes her too hard. Throttle would never forgive himself if something happened to her in his care. "What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything from you." The coldness of her voice cuts through to him like a knife. "I never needed anything from you in the first place. I'm fine.

"No? You sure?"

"Get out." Carbine spits. "I don't need you."

 _I know you're fine, but what do I do?_ He wonders. Right now, he wants to hurt her like she hurt him.

"You don't need me?" He scoffs. "Of course you don't. You have his sorry ass. His father betrayed our planet. The apple doesn't often fall far from the tree. But you can't see that. You're too busy using him just like you used me."

Carbine's expression changes into a sneer. Throttle knows he's gone too far. She picks a vase off of the coffee table and hurls it at him. Throttle ducks and the glass vase bounces harmlessly off the wall behind him and shatters into a million pieces. Throttle eyes the ka-bar that rests on the coffee table. Who keeps one of those on their coffee table? He wonders. Does she threaten him with that? Or is it the other way around?

Their fights often ended up like this. Violent and Throttle covered in cuts and bruises. He never hit her back, because you never hit a lady. Though Carbine is farthest thing from one. She sets Rose down on the couch and stalks towards him. She picks up the k-bar that was laying on the table.

"Don't hurt my daughter," he warns as he calculates how fast he can get to her from where he stands in the doorway.

"Go to hell. She's not yours."

"She isn't?"

"You really want to risk your reputation to find that out."

"Sweetheart, the only one who's reputation is on the line is night, Carbine." He sighs heavily. "We always did bring out the worst in each other."

"I would have thought things would have been different." She sheaths the knife. "That we could have remained friends."

"The fact that you just threatened me with a knife means that nothing has changed," he replies, still eying the knife in her hand. Carbine was very deft with a knife and he's seen her in action. There's no way he wants to get on the wrong side of that blade. Or Rose.

"I didn't mean it."

"Yeah." He opens his vest revealing the long jagged scar across his torso. "That's what you said last time. You keep telling me that I'm the one with all the excuses. You can't think of just you any more."

"I'm sorry." She rocks back on her heels and tosses the knife on the table. It clatters loudly on the glass in the otherwise quiet apartment.

"Sometimes the one you want, isn't the one you need." Throttle answers. "I hope he's good to you, and you can move on for both of our sakes. And Rose's."

"But."

Throttle places his hand on the door nob. "Don't make this any harder than this is."

"You didn't have to come." She says indignantly, like a child.

"You should know me by now." Throttle closes the door behind him, taking great care not to slam it and wake the baby. Otherwise, Carbine will have his ass a second time.

 _His baby_. The realization hits him like a brick.

Throttle's fist makes contact with the wall putting a good solid dent in the iron in other circumstances he would be proud of outside of General Carbine's living quarters. A primal scream of anguish escapes his lips. It the closest thing he's able to get his hands on that wasn't living and breathing.

Stoker was right. Carbine hadn't openly admitted it to him, but her expression betrayed all he needed to know. Throttle walks a little ways and then slumps against the wall. His knees shake as the unused adrenaline courses through him. His hand aches. That's going to leave a bruise.

 _Now what?_ He wonders. Rose is my daughter. Or she's lying to me again. She didn't really seem to know.

He takes off his sunglasses and rubs his eyes blearily. His eyes burn, not from tears. Sometimes they just hurt. The pain of them being attached to his body never seemed to go away, always serving as a reminder that he was never fully human? Is that even the right word? Organic? That he's some kind of monster because Karbunkle touched him. and that's why Carbine never really trusted him. _Look what they did to Stoker. What makes you think he didn't mess with your brain?_ Carbine's voice echoes through his brain. You could be a mole for all I know.

 _Even though I proved to you time and time again that I was loyal to you and to Mars,_ Throttle thinks through gritted teeth. _I even brought you that bastard Limburger and you put me in jail. But you were unable to show that to me._

Throttle stands up and walks down the empty hall which is silent with the exception of the buzzing lights and humming generators. The majority of the base is underground since the Plutarkians destroyed most of the land, wiping it of the necessary vegetation.

 _What do I do?_ The question echos through his head. _Who can I tell?_

Stoker and then Charley. Charley always seemed to know what do with women, and she got along well with Carbine. At least from what he could tell. Carbine was good at faking a lot of things. The more honest Throttle is with himself about the relationship, the less he trusts Carbine.

Would Stoker want to know what a monster his niece is? More importantly, would he believe him? What about Charley? Charley always seemed to be able to find the best in people. Look at Hard Rock. She believed that he changed and he did. His first name was also Boo Boo, but beggars can't be choosers. There's no way he'd believe him about Carbine. Besides she was always making excuses for the bitch. She's busy and has a lot on her plate. And his bros? Throttle pushes the thought away. Yeah, that's not going to happen.

He climbs the stairs towards the control center. Sleep evades him, he should at least do something useful. He wonders who is manning the control station tonight. Often Stoker did since the nightmares kept him awake. They kept Throttle awake too.

Music plays softly in the control room. Stoker sits at the computer. Throttle knows that it's him from the long metal tale that snakes across the ground. A young woman sits beside him. She has tan fur and black hair that's pulled back into a smart French braid. Her coat has the lapels of a high ranking officer.

Throttle clears his throat. Stoker turns around. "Well, wasn't expecting you to keep these kind of hours."

"Couldn't sleep." He nods to the female officer. She can't be older than twenty-three, he guess. Her head nods in her lap. "What are you doing?"

"Just watching for disaster." He says. "This is Astoria. She just transferred here from the South a few days ago. Trying to get her oriented."

"At three in the morning?" Throttle's voice takes on a warning tone. "Sure this couldn't wait until daylight?"

"It's her turn to to the night shift. First night. The first few are always the hardest. You know that. There's no one but you and your thoughts." Stoker says. "Only a few more hours. This is Throttle. He's one of the famed Biker Mice."

Astoria shakes her head and stretches. She blinks and then shoots to her feet and salutes.

Throttle waves it away. "Don't salute me, I'm not an officer."

He does salute her. She worked hard for her rank and deserves his respect.

"At ease." Then she holds out her hand. "Hi, I'm Astoria."

He shakes her hand. "Pleasure. Can I join you?"

"Pull up a seat," Stoker says. "There's nothing out there right now but dirt and the Rover. All's quiet on the western front. You want to walk down to the Chow Hall and get some coffee?"

Throttle doesn't even drink coffee. But it would give him a chance to talk to Stoker alone.

"I can get it," Astoria volunteers. "It would wake me up to go get it. It's not good for an officer to be nodding off at her post. May I?" She looks at Stoker cautiously.

"If you'd like. We're not uptight about these things. I think we can handle keeping watch." He gives her a kind smile. "As you can see, there's a lot going on out there."

"Yeah, those rocks are really going at it," Throttle jokes. "We might be blown up any moment."

Astoria chuckles. "I'll be back."

Stoker waits until Astoria's out of earshot. "So I hear you saw Carbine earlier."

"Who told you?"

"Vinnie. Thought it was suspicious. He came up here after she called and wanted to talk to you alone. Thought it might be a trap."

"It was." Throttle says quietly. He watches the screen. Not even the wind is blowing. What did the humans say about 3am? The devil is out playing?

"Chassis try to take you out? What happened?"

"No, he was asleep. She wanted me to hold the baby. And talk." He rubs his eyes and yawns. "I don't really know. It… She told me she thought things would be different between us now. I'm not sure what she meant by that, seeing that she's with him and fine. I'm just…"

"Did she threaten you again?"

Throttle doesn't answer right away. "I'm worried for Rose's safety. I'm not sure Carbine's fit to be a mother. Lead an army sure, but…" He glances over at Stoker trying to gauge his response.

"I have my concerns too." He keeps his eyes on the screen. "I'm more worried about Chassis than Carbine at the moment."

"You think it's not his?"

"No, I know it's not his. I made Carbine do a DNA test." He shrugs. "She didn't want to know the result. I said fine. You're an adult, but I want to know in case that bastard comes after you."

"Who else was she screwing behind my back?" Throttle sneers. "Or do I even want to know?"

Stoker shrugs. "I don't think it would do you any good to know. But you also never struck me as one to obsess over something like that either. You got out at a good time."

"So the DNA test?"

"What about it?"

"You know who the father is?"

Before he is able to answer, Astoria comes back carrying three steaming cups of coffee on a tray. She glances at Throttle shyly through her eyelashes. His heart skips a few beats. It's been a long time since someone's looked at him like that.

"Thank you," he says quietly. He shakes a package of sugar and dumps it into his mug followed by a few things of creamer. Stoker drinks his black. The three of them sit in silence watching the monitors in silence. Astoria shivers.

"Cold? Throttle asks wishing that he had something to give her. Some reason to touch her. God, it's been such a long time since he's had any physical affection.

"No, I think it's just because I'm tired. I have a hard time switching from days to nights. It's something I'll have to get used to. Things are different here," she says quietly.

"Homesick?" Stoker asks kindly.

"A little. My family lived back at the other base so I could see them on a weekly basis if I wanted. Here, I'm a little farther away. A days or so travel by land. One day if I fly." She takes a sip of her coffee and then makes a face. "Hot."

"To answer your question, Throttle I know. I was able to do some digging and find out. There's not a lot that escapes me these days, even though certain high ranking officers would like to believe otherwise."

Throttle looks down at his coffee. It's still too hot to drink. He stirs it with the plastic stir to help cool it down. "What do you think I should do?"

"Just let them screw up their own life. They can only out run their demons for so long." Stoker winks at Astoria. "One of the things you learn in military life is to let you comrade's karma catch up to them. Keep each other alive on the battlefield, but their bad decisions are their own. She's are not your responsibility anymore, Throttle. She dug her grave, let her lie in it."

"Isn't that a little cruel?"

"She's going to keep trapping and manipulating you if you let her, just like she did tonight. You need to move on."

"Easier said than done." Throttle takes a sip of his coffee, burning his tongue in the process. It's bitter on his tongue and he makes a face. Throttle picks up another packet of sugar and dumps it in. He should be back in his bunk sleeping but his encounter with Carbine has left him shaken. He wants to tell him about how she threatened him.

"I didn't grab enough sugar," Astoria's voice jolts him out of his thoughts. "I should get more. I think I also saw some biscotti or something in the kitchen. Let me check."

"It's fine." Stoker says, but she disappears before he can stop her. "We're tough. Though I wouldn't exactly say no to some biscotti to go with my coffee."

"I am kind of hungry," Throttle admits. "But breakfast is soon if she can't find anything. You think she's friends with Carbine?"

"Who? Astoria?" Stoker shakes his head. "Carbine's hardly been around to see the new recruits. Astoria knows of her, but I'm fairly certain they've never met. She's been too busy with my new niece."

"Rose is pretty cute," Throttle admits. "I'm not into babies, but I didn't want to give her back."

"Carbine's been pretty selective who she lets touch that kid. Consider yourself honored. She won't let just anyone hold that baby."

Throttle stirs his coffee watching the steam come off of it. "That's what worries me."

He doesn't mention to Stoker that Carbine threatened him with a knife. Again. Stoker wasn't above threatening people with weapons though it had gotten better through therapy. After his brush with the mind bender beam, Harley had pushed him to take advantage of the the scanty mental health services offered. More to ensure that Karbunkle no longer had access to his mind. In turn he'd become a better leader and easier to be around.

"She never really got over you."

Throttle shrugs. "Not my problem. She's the one decided to screw up our relationship by being unfaithful. I know I was literally million miles away but it wasn't my decision. And I could have met someone on Earth, but I didn't because I loved her."

"I know, son. It's her own damn fault and she knows it. You also know that she'd rather go to hell than acknowledge she's made a mistake." He takes a sip of his coffee. Astoria reappears looking slightly more awake and carrying a small covered basket. She grins. The smile reaches up from the corners of her mouth to her eyes. "I couldn't find biscotti, but I did find some freshly made biscuits."

"I told you she was good." Stoker winks at Throttle. "I hope those Earthling hot dogs didn't destroy your taste for other food."

"It came close," He admits. "The food is so bland and processed there. By the end I was even getting tired of hot dogs."

Stoker hands him a biscuit. "Still hot from the oven. How did you manage?"

She shrugs. "I know a guy."

Throttle tears it open and watches the steam escape, burning his fingers in the process. Stoker and Astoria butter theirs fastidiously. "I did miss these," Throttle muses, heaping his with strawberry jam. "I guess they would be making them now. They serve chow starting at 5:30 or something? I'm not usually up that early."

"Yeah, and then the new recruits come in and start their training. We've got a good batch this time around. A lot of potential." Astoria says. Jam dribbles down her chin.

"Good," Stoker says. "We need some fresh blood around here, and while things are quiet we can get our numbers and skill back up."

Throttle finishes the last of his biscuit "I should try to get some rest. Thanks for the coffee and biscuit, Astoria." He gives her a tired salute.

"You're welcome. Hopefully, we'll see one another again soon."

 **Please Review.**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I do not own the Biker Mice From Mars.

Rose is finally asleep in her crib. Carbine makes her way from the nursery back to the living room. I should probably clean up that glass before Chassis notices. That vase was a gift from his mother. Oops. Hope it wasn't a family heirloom. Everything in his parents' house seemed to belong to some generation before theirs. Most of it was ugly.

Carbine grew up dirt poor in the slums. Often she went to bed hungry because her mother couldn't afford food and was too proud to take any hand outs. Going into the military was a relief because it provided structure and food. Carbine had thrived. Not to mention she hoped to find her father, who was also in the military. It was still a dream or hers. A pipe dream. Many different platoons had gone missing or defected to the enemy. Some had defected from the Martian army and become the Freedom Fighters. That's what Carbine did at Throttle's urging. They had saved the planet from being stripped into nothing. Now the Martian Army and Freedom Fighters operated as one.

She opens the closet in the kitchen where she keeps her cleaning materials and takes out the broom and dust pan.

"What are you doing?" A sleepy voice asks. Carbine whirls around brandishing the broom like a weapon.

Chassis stands there wearing black boxers and a white t-shirt. He blinks owlishly in the bright kitchen light. "Rose is sleeping?"

Carbine nods. "Yeah, she's asleep."

"It's really early. Come to bed." He holds out his arms. "You need to sleep when she's sleeping otherwise you're going to get sick."

"I just need to do a few things. I'll be there in a few minutes." She smiles. "Promise."

Chassis leans down and kisses her forehead. He brushes a stray strand from her face. "You look worn out."

"I've been through a lot worse, trust me. Your mother doesn't know the half of it. You should go to bed. You have to go to work."

"You have ten minutes or I'll come find you." He squeezes her shoulder. "I love you."

"Love you too."

"Oh," He pokes his head around the door frame. "You heard from Throttle recently?"

"No," she lies. "Why?"

"Just figured that creep would be all around us like a fly on shit after the baby was born."

She frowns. "Why would he care? He's never around and he's on Earth most of the time anyway."

Chassis rubs the back of his neck. "Well, it's just that he didn't like the fact that we were together. I think he thought you guys were still together."

"I don't know. It doesn't really matter. He's…" she sighs. "He pisses me off. He can never make up his mind on whether he wants to stay or go. And those bros of his. They all need to be taken down a notch. They're too cocky for their own good. They saved Earth and kicked Limburger back to where he came from, but there will be others." She pushes past him and starts sweeping up the glass. "Watch your step."

"How did glass get all the way over there."

"I was carrying it to wash it because I didn't after I threw out the flowers, and I dropped it," she lies. "It slipped through my fingers."

"Are you alright?" Chassis asks. He rushes to examine her hands for any sign on injury.

"I'm fine, just tired." She smiles. "I know that was your mother's favorite vase."

"Nah. She would have never given her favorite vase to us. Its tucked away from anything that can ever touch it. Don't even worry about it." Chassis takes the broom and dustpan from her hands. "You go back to bed. I'll clean this mess up."

Carbine stands on her tippy toes and kisses his cheek. She can be happy with this, even though the sex was lackluster sometimes.

 _I never knew you to settle._ Throttle's voice echoes through her head.

 _Of the two of us, who is the one that isn't going to bed alone?_ she thinks smugly. _See, I don't need you._ Before she goes into the room she shares with Chassis, she checks on Rose. _Unlike me, I'm going to make sure Rose is going to have a good life. She's not going to have an absent father and she won't go to bed hungry._

Throttle can't guarantee either of those things and therefore is not the better choice as much as she wants him to be. His bros would never let him, and gods know that he chose them over her every single time. And Earth. That stupid third planet from the sun. Let them blow themselves up.

* * *

The next morning, Carbine decides to go to the chow hall for breakfast. There's new officers transferring in that she has yet to meet. Stoker ordered them. She doesn't trust his judgment. Ever since Limburger got a hold of him, he's been different. The people he chose could be spies.

"It's time for some new blood," he explained to her last time he visited. "We send some of our soldiers there and get a few new ones. They have new skills that we don't. It keeps them from getting bored."

"I worked hard to get this army where it is," Carbine growls. "I don't need you mucking it up."

"Run too tight a ship and you're going to lose a few." Stoker shakes his head. "Would I ever steer you wrong after all these years?"

Reluctantly, she agreed that he could send anyone but the Biker Mice. Stoker gave her a bemused expression and then agreed to her terms. Actually, he could send anyone but Throttle. Vinnie and Modo? she could care less what happened to them. Throttle, she wants to keep an eye on. To make sure that he doesn't find anyone else.

She looks at herself in the mirror. _I look frumpy. I need to start exercising again_. Much to her dismay, her uniform doesn't quite fit yet. The pants barely button at the top and her shirt is too tight and showing too many of her curves for her liking. She switches it out with one of the ones she wore when she was pregnant. _Is Chassis going to find me attractive again?_ She wonders.

With Rose fed and happily being held by her grandmother, Carbine leaves her living quarters for what feels like the first time in a long time. It feels strange to not have Rose with her. She wonders if she smells like spit up as Rose had decided to do that on her shirt before she left.

Karma, it's catching up with her. She climbs the stairs and makes her way to the Chow Hall. It's not too far from her quarters. There's a lot of people in there, the sound carries through the halls. Most of the time it's just the officers and those who are on base. The solders eat in another place. Maybe it's not that there's more people, maybe she's not used to to the noise.

She enters the chow hall. There are definitely more people here than usual. The normally empty long tables are filled with fresh recruits. Several officers sit at the tables at the head of the room. Stoker is around her somewhere. Modo is easy to spot. He's sitting in his usual place with Rimfire and his friends.

Vinnie is trying to charm the ladies with rides on his motorcycle. Throttle would often be with her, but… she looks around the room. There he is. He sits with Stoker and two female officers that she doesn't recognize. One talks animatedly with her hands. Judging by the stripes on her uniform she's fairly high ranking. Throttle has his head resting on one of his hand watching her with a smirk on his face.

Carbine hates that his glasses conceal his eyes and she can't tell what he's thinking. She resists the urge to storm over there and wipe the smirk off his face. How dare him if he think he can get away with flirting with one of her officers, she seethes.

The story the new officer is telling must be funny because the entire table bursts out in laughter. Carbine clenches his fist at her sides. Time to bust up this little party. She strides over to the table.

"The poor recruit had to bring this plant with him everywhere. When asked about it, he'd have to say. 'I have to carry this plant to make up for the oxygen that I'm wasting.' The best part was the PT, watching him run with his potted Pinkseed plant."

The table guffawed.

"You never did that, did you Astoria?" Stoker jokes.

"Carry around a Pink Seed plant and pretend it was my battle buddy?" She shakes her head. "No, but there was that time when my squad failed their barracks inspection, we all got to serenade and dance with brooms, mops and other cleaning supplies for a few hours. My voice was raw from singing love songs. I tell you, you haven't lived until you've done that. But the best one was the recruit with the sweet nuts. She was having trouble making her shot." Her eyes sparkle mischievously while telling the story. Her eyes are focused on Throttle. Throttle throws his back and laughs.

"You've found Turbine. Congratulations. Now where's the rest of his family? You can't just take a mouse away from family. Go find me his mother. So this continues until the recruit finds the sweet nut's cone's entire damn family."

Carbine clears her throat and everyone stops talking. The smile fades from Throttle's face. Astoria stands up and salutes Carbine, but she doesn't return it. She studies her. Astoria has long black hair pulled back into a smart side braid and tan fur, just like Throttle. She's pretty, and she's probably fairly intelligent if she's achieved the rank of a Captain. Unless she's slept her way to the top.

"I don't believe we've met."

Astoria salutes again. "Captain Astoria reporting for duty, ma'am!" Her voice echos in the dinning hall bringing the chaos to a halt.

"At ease," Carbine says, not bothering to disguise the disdain in her tone.

"I hear you just had a baby. Congrats on the little one." Astoria says."What's her name?"

"What. You want to come over and bake cookies? Don't act like we're friends."

"Carbine," Throttle says quietly.

She ignores him. "This is a military base. Our main objective is to keep Mars safe from all threats both alien and domestic."

"My apologizes." Astoria answers flatly.

Carbine whirls on Throttle. "That's General Carbine to you."

"Fine." Throttle spits back. "General Carbine. How about you show a little bit of respect for your colleagues. Who knows, you might need her help some day."

She moves inches from his face so that their muzzles almost touch. "Is that some sort of threat?"

"Nope. As a General I figured you knew better. But I've been getting a lot of things wrong about you recently." Throttle says.

Carbine grits her teeth together. There's nothing more she can say without making herself look worse. He just smirks at her. Doesn't help that he's Stoker's favorite. Even over her and she's blood.

"Who are you to tell me what to do? You don't even have rank." She wants to wound his pride just like he did it to her. Then she turns to her uncle. "Stoker, are there any updates?"

"The rocks seems to be multiplying. And it's quieter than a graveyard out there." Stoker answers. "We've been running scans and patrols. Nothing. Every thing is quiet. There's no sign of Plutarkians or anything."

"Report to me later. We'll discuss it in more detail." She says. Then she turns to Astoria. "Why did they send you here?"

"I'm to serve as your second in command. They thought—"

"They? Who is they?" She places her hands on her hips and glares at Astoria. "I don't need you."

"Carbine," Throttle begins. He tries to step in between the two of them.

"Stay out of this, you traitor." She snaps. "It was your idea, wasn't it?"

He sighs and hold up his hands. "No, it wasn't. Can you just be nice, for once? And no, it wasn't mine."

"It was mine," Stoker interrupts. He pushes his chair away from the table. "I thought you might need an extra set of hands with the baby and all. We're just trying to look out for you?"

"And you chose her?" She gestures to Astoria. "Of all the officers. A measly Captain. You couldn't get me another General or higher ranking officer?"

"Because she's the most qualified," Stoker answers. "I have her credentials in my office. If you want to see them later you can."

"I have experience leading and training troops in a variety areas. I received an award from the—"

"I don't care," Carbine snaps. "I don't need your help. I can lead the Freedom Fighters by myself with or without a baby. Nothing has changed on how things are run here. I call the shots here. Not you."

"Well, this has been fun." Throttle says standing and picking up his tray. "Astoria, it was good to talk to you again. Stoker. I'm sure I'll see you around the base."

Astoria checks her watch. "I should go. I have Sergeants that will be reporting to me in another half an our or so. It was good to talk to you again as well. Perhaps we'll be able to trade more stories later."

Trade stories. More like trade body fluids. Ugly whore.

She turns on her heel and stalks out of the Chow Hall. Tears threaten to pour down her cheeks, but she refuses to let them see her cry. Especially Astoria. She can't let that bitch know she's getting to her. Next order of business is sending that her back where she came from.

Someone grabs her shoulder and turns her around, caught off guard Carbine swings. Her fist is caught easily and pushed down. "What was that in there?" Stoker asks. "Didn't I teach you better than that?"

She wrenches her arm away. "I told you not to get anyone else. I can handle this."

"Yeah, that's was a good show of I can handle things." Stoker says sarcastically. "Basically airing you and Throttle's dirty laundry in front of the entire chain of command and new recruits because you can't stand the thought of him talking to another woman who isn't you."

"That's not true."

Stoker raises his eyebrows. "Really?"

"I don't need him." Carbine spins on her heel. "I want to see those credentials. If she has to be here, she has to be at least qualified for the job I give her."

"Your second in command."

"No." Carbine answers. "That's your job."

"Oh come on. You really expect me to believe that. You've been trying to get rid of me for how long?" Stoker answers. "Hell, you more or less gaslight Throttle about it trying to convince him that he was tainted. So congratulations. You got your wish, you don't have to answer to me any more."

"No."

"Now Captain Astoria has taken my place."

"I'm not giving that bitch any power." Carbine says. "You said so yourself that we cant trust the Martian government."

"Well, we couldn't." Stoker shrugs. "Hell, we might not even be able to, but things have more or less gotten better. Thanks to the Biker Mice we can start to rebuild. We have contact on another planet and the bastards who more or less screwed us over the first time are in prison or dead."

"Chassis's father is dead." Carbine answers. "Even though he cooperated with the investigation."

"It was suicide." Stoker agrees. "A very sad thing for everyone involved. But he dug his grave, pun not intended, and he got to lie in it." They walk down the hall to the command center. "Why do you feel so threatened by Astoria? Is it because she's pretty or is it because you don't want Throttle to be happy?"

 **Please Review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I do not own the Biker Mice from Mars. I just enjoy playing in their universe.

Throttle wakes with a sour feeling in his stomach. The snatches of sleep he got were punctuated with nightmares. That in itself isn't uncommon. They just seemed worse last night. The public executions that the Plutarkians and the Martian government carried out to make and example of those who disobeyed seemed extremely vivid.

He rubs his eyes trying to push them back into his memories. The way their necks broke as the trap doors went out from underneath their feet and how their bodies wriggled like fish on a worm. Sometimes, they were set in front of a firing squad. _That could have been me._ He thinks. _In fact, that should have been me on more than one occasion. Stoker, my bros, and Carbine too. We were all targets._

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey," Modo says cheerfully.

Throttle groans and rolls over pulling the thin military issued blanket over his head. He doesn't want to go to sleep. Not really. That's where the memories live. "Please just leave me here to die."

Modo cocks his head to the side. "This isn't like you, bro."

"Yeah," What's going on?" Vinnie asks. "Normally you're the one waking me up."

"I don't feel like dealing with Carbine today."

The other two mice exchange worried glances. The com dings at them. A call from Earth!

"Charley Girl!" The three of them cry.

"Morning sweetheart," Vinnie says cheerfully. "How's Earth treating you?"

"You goof, I'm getting ready to go to bed. The time difference between here and Mars sucks." Charley's voice comes over the speaker. "How are you guys holding up?"

"We're doing alright, I guess," Vinnie agrees. "It's good to be home. Modo's spending lots of time with Rimfire."

"Actually, it's really quiet." Modo says. "It makes me nervous."

"It's boring." Vinnie cracks his knuckles. "I need action. I need to blow stuff up."

Charlie sighs. "I sure hope you aren't putting holes in the walls like you were here."

"We haven't run out of spackle, if that's what you're talking about," Throttle answers. He gives her a tired smile.

"How are you, Throttle?"

"Tired. I didn't sleep well last night." He rubs his eyes.

"How's Carbine?"

"She's Carbine. Nothing's changed. The baby's cute though. I got to hold her last night."

"She can't be too mad at you then if she let you hold the little one," Modo answers.

He snorts remembering how she threatened him with a knife and threw a vase at his head. "I guess."

"So do you miss me, sweetheart?" Vinnie asks navigating the conversation back to himself. "I should be back in a few weeks. I don't know what that translates to in Earth time. I miss you, sweetheart."

Throttle fights back a twinge of jealousy. Carbine never missed him like that. If she did, she never told him. Maybe he was slightly bitter about the whole thing.

* * *

After Vinnie rings off with Charley the Biker Mice make their way to the Chow Hall. Rumor had it Carbine would be returning to her duties today.

"Guess the whole being a mom didn't agree with her," Vinnie says. "She has several more months off, right?"

"Carbine doesn't do well unless she's controlling something," Throttle answers. "She can't exactly control Rose because, she's well a baby. So she has to come back to work and control the rest of us." Throttle chuckles.

Modo and Vinnie both give him a sideways glance.

"She was always a bit of a workaholic. Having a baby wasn't going to make that go away." Throttle backpedals a little bit. "And Stoker offered to get her some help to manage the load, but she wouldn't take it."

"Of course she wouldn't," Vinnie snorts.

"I could never understand what you saw in her," Modo shakes his head. "I mean, she's a good leader. No disrespect to Carbine ma'am."

"I'm not offended. It's true."

The chow hall is busier than usual. There are more recruits sitting at the normally empty tables eating before beginning their training and missions for the day. Throttle and his bros join the long line that stretches across the room. His stomach growls reminding him that he hadn't eaten for several hours and that biscuit wasn't enough to sustain him.

"BEEP! BEEP! WRONG WAY!" A white mouse calls pretending he is driving a car. "GO AROUND! THAT END IS EXIT ONLY."

"New recruits," Modo says sticking a thumb over his shoulder. "Must have tried to enter the line from the wrong way."

"I remember those days," Throttle says. "Though I think mine involved announcing to the world I was a pretty pretty princess or having to sweep sunlight off the sidewalk. My whole platoon had to do that once because of some screw up."

Vinnie scratches his head. "How does that work?"

"It doesn't," Throttle says.

"Or doing 500 smiley frowinies," Modo agrees.

Throttle groans. "Those are the worst. Your face gets tired after the first ten.

The line moves fairly quickly. Throttle gathers his food, opting for something that wasn't hot dogs. Oatmeal and a banana and a couple links of sausage. Plus more of the biscuits. Modo and Vinnie get their usual fare.

He wonders if Astoria is here, or if she has gone to bed for the day or eaten her meal earlier seeing that she kept watch during the night with Stoker.

"I'm going to go sit with Rimfire," Modo says nodding towards the table where his nephew and a few of his friends sit.

"I see there's some new ladies here I haven't met. I'll have to see if they want to take a ride on my bike later," Vinnie jokes. "They need a proper introduction to the area."

"I'm sure you're the mouse for the job," Throttle answers sarcastically. With his bros going to their respective tables, he's left alone standing in the middle of the hall. He sighs. Normally, he sat with Carbine, but that was no longer the case since they'd broken up.

There's an empty table near the back of the hall. He strides over there and sets his tray down on the table. He wonders how many people Carbine has managed to turn against him. Given that he and his bros were a large part of why Mars is still standing, they didn't have much to be angry about. However politics are politics and the fact that people have been following the relationship drama between he and Carbine wasn't lost on him. He tears into another biscuit and slathers it with butter and jelly.

"May we join you?" Stoker's voice jolts him out of his thoughts.

Throttle looks up in surprise. "Sure."

Stoker takes a seat beside him and Astoria takes the one across from him. She looks a little tired but no worse for the wear. "Good morning,"

"Morning." Throttle says swallowing his biscuit quickly. It catches on the way down making him cough. He takes a swig of his root beer trying to wash it down. The carbonation from the drink seems to make it worse. He coughs a few more times and pounds his fist on his chest. "I'm not awake yet." He sputters. Tears form in his eyes. "Wow."

"Careful. Don't die on out account." Stoker pounds him on the back.

"Thanks." Throttle coughs a few more times.

"It's my beauty. It gets them every time." Astoria jokes. "It just leaves them speechless."

"Yeah." Throttle grins filling his mood lift. "That might be it."

"So did you get some sleep?"

"A few hours." He admits. "What about you?"

"Not really, but I've been through a lot worse. I have some recruits to train and some mock missions to run. It should be fun."

"Fun for them? Or fun for you?" Stoker asks, taking a bite of his oatmeal.

"I like to think fun for them, but it wouldn't be wrong to say it's fun for me too." She grins. "I like seeing them learn new skills and succeed and become better individuals in the process. Doesn't happen with all of them. Not all are cut out for the military, but I think it's a good experience. It gives them a purpose to serve the greater good and not take the freedoms of our planet for granted."

"I bet you have some stories."

Her eyes sparkle mischievously. "Oh I do. I spent some time as a Drill Sargent. I'm sure you've heard stories about some of the things the drill Sargent do. One of my favorite stories involves a Pinkseed plant."

Drill Sargent, hmm? He wouldn't mine her ordering him around.

Throttle props his head on his hand. "That sounds like it ends well."

"Well, no. It didn't end well for him. He had to go around carrying this plant and say that it was replacing the oxygen that he was wasting with his existence. It went on for at least a week. He had to take that plant everywhere. PT, chow, marching, the shower, bed."

"Did they make him sleep with the pink seed plant?" Stoker asks.

"I think it had it's own bed and the recruit had to sing it a song every night."

Throttle throws his head back and laughs at the image of this plant being tucked into the bed next to some poor sap every night.

"You know, I can really see this happening to Vinnie," Stoker says thoughtfully. "I just think his ego would get him in to trouble."

"It would knock him down a few notches." Throttle agrees. "I think he's too far gone for his huge ego to be completely cured."

"Can we force him to do this?" Stoker asks. "I feel like this needs to happen."

"Sure. He can name it 'Sweetheart.'"

Stoker chokes on his coffee.

"When I was in boot camp, my platoon failed a barracks inspection and so for the next few hours my platoon and I waltzed with mops and brooms and sang romantic love songs to our respective piece of cleaning equipment. It could have been a lot worse. They could have made us do PT until we dropped. If wasn't funny at the time, but now it is." Astoria takes a bite of her omelet. "There was another one that involved pine cone."

Carbine would have never traded stories about her time in boot camp, let alone funny stories about her life. Throttle's only known Astoria for less than twelve hours but he likes her quite a bit. _Do I really like her or am I just that lonely?_ He wonders.

Someone clears their throat. Throttle looks up. Carbine leers over the table with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Astoria pushes her chair back and salutes.

"I don't think we've met," Carbine says eyeing her suspiciously.

"Captain Astoria reporting for duty, ma'am." She salutes again.

"At ease." Carbine doesn't even mask her displeasure.

"I hear you have a new little one. Congratulations." Astoria holds out her hand.

"What? You wanna come over and bake cookies and scrapbook? Don't act like we're friends."

"Sorry. I just thought—"'

"Shut up."

Throttle pushes back his chair. "Carbine."

She ignores him. "This is a military base. Our main objective is to keep Mars safe from both alien and domestic threats. You of all people should know that Captain."

Throttle's fist clenches at his side. Astoria doesn't even flinch at Carbine's cold tone.

"My apologies," Astoria answers flatly. "I didn't realize that asking about an individual's wellbeing was considered offensive. I guess the Freedom Fighters do things differently. My mistake."

"Carbine." Throttle says again.

"That's General Carbine to you." She says taking a step closer so that she was in his face. The hall suddenly becomes extremely quiet and the attention of everyone zeros on them.

"Fine. General Carbine. Would it kill you to be respectful to your colleagues?"

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" She crosses her arms in front of her. "You betrayed us."

"No." Throttle says evenly. "I didn't. That's not what happened and you know it. You like to throw that in my face every single time something doesn't go the way that you want."

Carbine's face contorts to one with anger. The scar across her nose makes her look that much sinister. Animistic, even. She bares at her teeth at him. "No, I don't."

"You're a General. Act like one." He levels his gaze at her, looking at her over the tops of his field specs. He suddenly aware of a large mouse standing behind him. Modo, at least. Who knows where Vinnie disappeared to. Stoker is still seated eating his breakfast.

She raises her hand and then clenches it and then lowers it. "Stoker are there any updates?"

"Updates on what?"

Throttle sinks in his chair to continue eating his breakfast. Astoria does the same, but the mirth in her eyes is gone. What has replaced it is a deep sense of sadness. _First day and you offend your commanding officer._ He thinks sympathetically. He wonders what they say about Carbine at the general command station.

Welcome to the Freedom Fighters. Throttle thinks sarcastically. We're more rigid than the actual army because our leader is a control freak.

He wants to reach out and say something. Make excuses for Carbine's behavior, but he doesn't because Carbine isn't his problem. When they were together, sure. _She's made her grave, let her lie in it_. Stoker's words echo through his mind. If she wants to lose the respect of the people she leads, that's her problem. Not his.

"Why did they send you here?" Carbine's fist bangs on the table. "I specifically did not request your presence."

Hell, you'd run the Freedom Fighters by yourself if we let you, Throttle thinks.

"I'm supposed to be your second in command." Astoria eyes rest on Throttle and then move to Carbine's. "They thought—"

"They?" She screams her voice echos over the hall. "Who's they?"

"Carbine." Throttle begins.

"No one asked you."

"Can you just calm down?"

"I am calm." She glares at him. "You think this is funny? Is this some form of joke that you're trying to replace me while I'm out having a baby?"

"We're not trying to replace you," Stoker says gently. "I thought you might need an extra set of hands with the baby. We're just trying to look out for you. Throttle had no say in it whatsoever. Hell, it wasn't even his idea."

"Then who's was it?"

"Mine." He scoots his chair away from the table. "So if you want to shout at someone, shout at me. Don't shout at Astoria and Throttle. They aren't involved."

"But you chose her? A measly Captain?" Her eyes flash with anger. "You couldn't get me someone more competent like another high ranking officer, like a General?"

"Because she's the most qualified," Stoker answers. "You want her credentials? I'll give them to you. She's best the Martian Army's got and I had to pull some serious strings to get her."

"I have experience leading and training troops in various capacities. I received a reward—"

"I don't care. I don't want you here." She turns to Stoker. "I can lead the Freedom Fighters by myself with or without a baby. Nothing has changed. I call the shots here, not you."

"Do you feel threatened by her because she's pretty?" Stoker asks quietly. He crosses his arms in front of her.

The dinning room is so quiet, a pin could hit the ground and everyone would hear it.

"No," Carbine lies. "I just prefer to work with men because they aren't petty."

"There's the pot calling the kettle black," Modo snorts. "If I had a nickle for every time you went after us for being traitors I could buy myself lunch for a month and a new bionic arm."

"You just don't like female officers because you can't sleep with them," Vinnie counters.

"Guys," Throttle begins holding up his hands

"You had a traitor's son's baby. How do you expect us to take you seriously?" Modo replies. He puts a hand on Throttle's shoulder. "As far as we're concerned, your leadership has been compromised."

"Are you serious?" Carbine growls. "My personal life has nothing to do this, you're just mad because your bro screwed up our relationship."

Everyone exchanges glances.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Throttle answers. He pushes back his chair and picks up his tray. "Captain. Stoker. It's been nice."

"I also must get going. I have training exercises to lead." Astoria answers. "And I have reports to hear. It was good seeing you again, Throttle. Perhaps we can talk again soon."

"Yeah. I'd like that," Throttle answers. "Ride Free."

Throttle picks up his tray and takes it to the wash station. His bros and Astoria follow him. Throttle's is aware of the eyes that follow him as he walks. He relaxes when the hall resumes it's normal chatter.

A few minutes later, his bros catch up with him.

"What was that all about?" Modo asks.

"Yeah, who pissed in her cornflakes this morning," Vinnie says pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "Clearly she doesn't like the new girl."

"You guys shouldn't have done that." Throttle says.

"Why?"

"We weren't going to sit there and let you trash you," Modo says. "You know that."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to bring up the whole betrayal thing."

Modo shrugs. "She brings it up all the time. We might as well get some mileage out of it. What happened last night? You seem all mopey this morning."

"Don't worry about it." Throttle shakes his head.

Vinnie wrinkles his nose. "Something happened. She uh… turn you down?"

"What?"

"You know? The new girl."

"Astoria? I just met her last night. She and Stoker were on watch together."

"She's cute," Modo begins.

"You going to ask her out?"

"No way, bros." Throttle shakes his head. "She's Carbine's second in command."

"That didn't stop you from dating Carbine," Modo says. "You ever think that maybe it's time to move on? Because I hate to break it to you bro, I don't think she's ever coming back."

Throttle sighs. "You're probably right."

"How long has it been eight months? Ten months? A year?"

"Fifteen months and eight days," Throttle says miserably.

"Yeah, I think it's time," Vinnie says. "Come hang out with me. I'll help you find a nice babe and have a little fun. I can hook you up."

"I'm really not interested," Throttle says. "Sorry guys."

Vinnie's ears droop. "But-"

Modo stops him. "He's still hurting. Let him be. He'll move on in his own time."

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I do not own the Biker Mice From Mars. Thank you so much for the reviews.**

Carbine stalks around her office, fighting back tears and frustrated that everything about this day seems to be going wrong. Throttle talking to a new woman, and he clearly enjoyed her company. And she was pretty. She crumples a paper on her desk and throws it across the room. It bounces harmlessly against the wall. She growls and picks up the paperweight and cocks back her arm to throw it. The door opens revealing Stoker in the doorway.

"Put it down and save yourself the trouble," Stoker says. His mechanical tail whips from side to side. "Clearly you're not ready to take up leadership after your time away."

"I'm fine, I told you." Carbine snaps. "I'm just tired, that's all."

Stoker raises an eyebrow. "You know you have several months of leave left."

"I know."

"So why don't you want to spend that time away bonding with your little one instead of being in the midst of this crazy. You need the break."

"I'm bored," she snaps. "I want to be here. I need to be here. I'm not going to let that… hussy run things while I'm away."

"You wouldn't say that if it were a man."

"Yes, I would." Carbine glares at Stoker picking up the paperweight again and examines it. "You know that I would."

Carbine sets the paperweight back on her desk and glares at Stoker. "What?"

"Go home," he growls at her, "and don't come back until you get that chip off your shoulder."

"I don't have one. This army has slacked off in my absence. You have slacked off."

"What are you talking about? We've got 100 new troops training here and a record amount of new blood." Stokers says. "For once we've had a standing truce with the Catatonians. We're rebuilding. What do you want, Carbine? A war?"

"I don't like it." Carbine says, staring at the thing inside the glass weight. "I want things to go back to the way they were."

"Peace does take some getting use to," Stoker agrees. "It doesn't mean that it's a bad thing."

"I don't like that you called in a new officer."

"Well, tough. You're both adults. Get along."

"Why?"

"You and I both know why. You can't stay faithful to a man. How the hell am I supposed to trust you with an army?"

"That's different."

Stoker raises an eyebrow. "Is it? You wouldn't tolerate it from me or any high ranking officers. What makes you think I'm going to tolerate it from you?"

That stings.

"When are the Biker Mice going back to Earth?" Carbine asks, changing the subject.

"Probably whenever they want to," he shrugs. "They are awaiting your orders."

"Would Astoria want to go?"

"She's been there before," Stoker says. "Columbia, South Carolina, I think. Not Chicago. The army sent her there to train because of her natural talent with martial arts and hand to hand combat. She's doing a class later this afternoon. I strongly suggested the Biker Mice attend. They might do well to train underneath her for a few months so they can refresh what they know and learn new techniques."

"They don't really use the martial arts. At least not the kind she teaches. It's all guns, bikes, and aeriel acrobatics with them. Throttle and Modo might punch someone once and a while." Carbine perches on her desk and stares at the mountain of files on her desk. All the reports that she needs to read. It's not as bad as she was expecting, but it was a lot more than she really wanted to read. Most of it was dry reports about how many pounds of flour they had and how many boxes of ammo for this kind of gun. So on and so forth. General housekeeping things written in such away that it makes watching paint dry a spectator sport.

That's one of the reason Throttle demoted himself. "I can't take the boringness of it," he complained. "A little part of my soul dies every time I read a briefing. I need action Carbine. I need my bros. I need to know that I'm making a difference in this war."

"You are making a difference," she said, taking his hands. "You're safe with me."

This wasn't what Throttle wanted to hear and he stormed out of her office. In the end, he got what he wanted. And so he rode off into the sunset with his bros and left her picking up the pieces of her heart.

Stoker just shrugs and shoves his hands into his pockets. "In any case, I've suggested it to them. Because there's a female teaching the course they might actually go."

"Vinnie, maybe. But he has his heart set on that human."

Stoker snorts. "So you're getting all bitter over Charley girl too? You need to rein in your jealousy a little."

Carbine pours of the documents over her desk trying to gain some semblance of what has gone on in her absence. She her told Stoker not to throw anything away. And from the looks of it he hadn't. Some reports look like they haven't been read. She tosses an empty chip bag and a couple empty cans of root beer into the overflowing trash can under her desk.

She grits her teeth together preparing to yell at Stoker, but when she looks up, he's gone. The only person in the office is her.

She begins to sort the documents into different piles in accordance with how important they are. Most are memos and status reports. Some are top secret documents lying in the open. Carbine swears under her breath. How he managed to stay alive and in power this long without being killed. There were a few close calls, of course.

"That's something I meant to do before you came back, but I didn't have time."

Carbine looks up. Astoria stands in the doorway carrying a manila folder.

"But of course with everything going on I didn't have a chance." Astoria hands her the folder. "This morning's report."

"Just add it to the stack."

Astoria looks around at the large stacks around her. "Which one? Is there a method to the madness and if so, may I help?"

"You don't have to. I can do it myself."

Carbine gags and holds up a half eaten sandwich that's growing a blue-green fuzzy coat. "Gross."

Astoria rushes with the trash can. "Bleh, that's gross."

"Right?"

"If you're done eating it, throw it away. Don't leave it to fester and become sentient." Astoria makes a face.

"It ruined this entire stack of papers." Carbine picks up them and tries to read the writing under the blue green juice the sandwich left behind. "Damn it."

"Well, that explained the weird smell Stoker and I couldn't find." A smile tugs at her lips.

"I'm sure they did this on purpose," she mutters. "Go see if you can find some paper towels or something. Maybe we can sop up some of this juice."

"Here's some napkins. It looks like they've seen better days."

"Is that ketchup?" Carbine asks pointing to another large stain. "Or is that blood?"

"How does blood dry? I thought it turned brown when it dried? There are some things we're better off knowing. This might be one of them." Astoria says. She plucks the paper off the desk and holds it up to the light. "I think it's ketchup or maybe chili sauce."

"That's something, I guess. The last thing I want to find on my desk is someone's DNA."

"Though if you look hard enough, you might find some." Astoria jokes. Carbine just glares at her.

"And it's a report about the growth of grass in the northwest region." Astoria frowns. "I don't think it's too important. A few weeks ago, they got their first cutting for hay. This is dated six months ago."

"Oh my gods," Carbine says snatching it out of her hand. She crumples it up. "It's like they went and found things to put on my desk. I'm sure I read that and threw that away."

"I know Stoker set up shop here for a few days."

"Yeah. His desk is even worse than mine. You can't see wood for several inches." She tosses a can into the trash can. "So what is in the morning report."

Astoria shakes her head. "Unfortunately not much. There's no activity on any of the boarders."

"That's good, right?" Carbine scoots the trash can over and dumps several empty soda cans into the trash. "Men."

"You can't live with them, you can't live without them."

Carbine wipes her sticky hands on the used napkins. "The messy desk isn't the problem. Well, it's one of the problems. The other is he's leaving top secret documents out in the open."

"Are you sure it's him?" Astoria asks. "That doesn't seem like something Stoker would do."

"Stoker hasn't been the same in the last few years. He won't admit it, but the time he spent in the Plutarkian prison and of course the Mind Meld Ray." She crosses her arms in front of her. "I'm not saying he isn't a good leader and needs to be outed. Gods know his expertise saved our asses on more than one occasion. Just… sometimes I question his judgment."

"Like me," Astoria blurts out. "We're not going to pussy-foot around that fact that you don't want me here."

"Well, I wasn't going to bring that up but since you did. Yes, you're right. I don't."

"We don't have to be friends and bake cookies, but I deserve you respect as you deserve mine."

"You have to earn it," Carbine says. "I don't give it for free."

"And rightfully so." Astoria answers. "But we have the same goal in mind and that is to keep Mars safe from harm."

Carbine examines the young mouse in front of her. Her long black hair is braided in smart French braid. Her uniform is crisply pressed and boots recently shined. A pistol is strapped to her left hip. There's a knife on her left hip. She's the kind of woman Throttle would go for.

"Half of these papers he could have pitched. But he didn't because he thinks we might need them," Astoria says. "You also asked him to save everything."

Carbine grits her teeth at that jab.

"And that might be true, but he could have least thrown away his garbage." Carbine squints. "To the biggest mamajammer this side of the galaxy besides me…"

"Oh that's awkward," Astoria answers.

Carbine shakes her head. "Stoker and Vinnie have this weird bromance thing going on. I don't quite understand."

"See, I would have pegged him and Throttle just by the way he talks about him."

"A long time ago, Vinnie and Stoker had a thing for the same girl so that's where that started."

"Who won?"

"She was kidnapped by a by a mouse named Mace and was never seen again. We weren't able to recover a body or anything. Vinnie was pretty torn up about it."

And Stoker? He's always been one for the thrill of the chase. Sure he was sad, but I don't think he was overly emotionally invested in it." Carbine squints at another nonsensical joke on a yellow sticky notes. "The good news is, it did solidify Vinnie's commitment to the cause. The others I never had an question about. I wonder if he wants these."

"You could just move them to his desk, along with the moldy sandwich?"

Carbine makes a face. "That's how you get bugs. I don't want bugs. Bugs migrate and his office is down the hall. That's too close."

Astoria shrugs. "I was part of a command once who filled a high ranking officer's office with packing peanuts and glitter. I wasn't there when it happened. I only heard about the aftermath later."

"He does have a good reason for keeping some of these notes. The Martian Army does have a tendency to go back on their word and forget what they said. It helps to keep some sort of record."

Astoria reappears with a roll of paper towel. Together they mop at the sticky residue the sandwich and other weird food things that have some how ended up on desk and now are corroding. "There's really no reason for this many memos about flour," Carbine grumbles.

"Tell that to the Martian army."

"Yeah, but this is dated six months ago. Where did he get that?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say he was saving up things to put on your desk."

"That would explain all these hot dog wrappers and soda cans," Carbine says. "Oh look memos about sexually transmitted diseases also dated six months ago. I'm going to kill him."

Astoria hides a smile as Carbine crumples them up and tosses them in the garbage. "One of the things you'll find here is that we don't have some of the challenges that the regular army has. Yet, we still get the memos."

"Makes sense."

"The most specialized force we have are the Biker Mice, as you probably know and have already met."

"Just Throttle, actually." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "The others haven't really been around. They've been off doing training exercises. Or just came back from earth, I don't remember what Stoker told me."

"They come and go as they please. With the way things are on Earth, or at least Chicago, they're spending more time here."

"What happened on Earth?"

"Their government is falling apart, much like ours did. I think they want Charley to come live here with us because they're afraid she'll be a target."

"Oh," she answers. "I think the army was hoping to get more allies on Earth. They were hoping to expand the special forces program."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it would wouldn't change things overall, but it would change the way you do things."

"I guess you're expecting me to be grateful."

Astoria shakes her head. "No, but you were army before coming to the Freedom Fighters. Until Throttle convinced you to come join him."

"It was only a matter of doing what was right," Carbine answers stuffing more paper into the small trash can until it's unable to hold any more. "I knew they were corrupt, but at the same time I had signed on the dotted line that I would defend my planet. Plus if you desert, they punish you. There was no easy choice."

The two of them sort the papers in silence for a little while. Until Astoria checks her watch. "I'm sorry to do this, but I have to get ready for the class I'm teaching in about a half an hour."

"No, it's fine." Carbine grins. "Thanks for your help."

Astoria turns and goes. Maybe having another woman to help out wouldn't be so bad. It would certainly rein in Stoker. As long as she stayed away from Throttle. That's all she really cares about.

* * *

Something smells like it's burning when she enters her living quarters after her first day back. Smoke billows from the kitchen. Rose cries from her nursery. "Oh for crying out loud," Carbine shouts. "I asked you to watch my kid, not burn my damn house down."

"Oh! I wasn't expecting you back so soon," Chassis's voice echos from the kitchen followed by a coughing fit.

Carbine hurries to the nursery to pick up Rose. Those are hungry cries. She wonders when someone last fed her. The little mouse lies in her crib staring at the ceiling. Her diaper is wet. As if her day can get any worse. She picks up Rose and changes her diaper. The air smells rancid, like burnt food. Carbine's furious. But first, she needs to take care of Rose.

She puts Rose to the breast and she suckles hungrily. Chassis appears in the door way. He wears a blue apron that's covered in some sort of sauce. There's a smear of something above his right eye brow. "I think I burned dinner," he says sheepishly.

"What?"

"I know you went back to work today, or at least tried to, and I knew that you would be tired afterwards so I wanted to do something nice for you and cook dinner," Chassis answers.

"Oh." Carbine stammers, ashamed that she was so angry when she came in. "Why didn't your mother do it?"

"Because she's my mother. You don't think I should be able to do it. To be able to take care of you?"

"No… No that's not it at all. I'm just pleasantly surprised." She rocks slowly. "I'm sorry."

Chassis sighs and sits down on the floor beside her. "I just want to be a good dad. I just want to be good at something."

"Cooking takes practice," Carbine says. "No one gets it on the first go round. We can always go to the chow hall. Take Rose. I'm sure everyone would love to see her."

"As a family," Chassis says dreamily. "Yeah. And show those guys. It's good to settle down and start around. You don't have to tear around on bikes and other planets. Sometimes it's just smart to stay where you started. The Plutarkians are gone. We might as well settle down and start a family."

We. Us.

He strips off his apron and hangs it on the side of the changing table. "What do you think? You could step down and we could get out of this place and raise our family somewhere else. My family has enough money that you wouldn't have to work. I can use my rank and influence.

 _Yeah,_ Carbine thinks. _That's not going to get you very far. The only reason they let you stay here is because they don't trust you or your mother. I know you better than that. You're too stupid to pull anything like that._

"We'll see once Rose gets older. I'm not ready to give up the Freedom Fighters just yet." Carbine answers. She strokes the tip of Roses nose. The little mouse makes a face and then settles down in her arms.

"What is this about Stoker bringing in new officers?" Chassis asks. "I heard there was a bit of a disturbance in the chow hall this morning. I was out on patrol. Did Throttle say something to you?" The tone of his voice lowers into a protective growl.

She shakes her head. "No, I just had to clear up with the new Captain who was really in charge here. I didn't want her to get any ideas. Apparently she's some hotshot star Captain from headquarters. Stoker had to pull some strings to get her here."

"The Biker Mice still here?"

"Yeah."

"I figured they would be back on Earth by now. There's not much for them here."

Carbine just shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe they're staying to train extra. I'm not aware of the main objective. Throttle doesn't answer to anyone but Stoker."

Chassis doesn't say anything. He picks up one of the stuffed animals from the shelf on the changing table. It's a pink bear with a rainbow in the center. Modo had brought to Mars from Earth as a gift. He was always so good with children. She wondered what his life would be like had he not decided to go into the Freedom Fighters. A teacher or maybe someone who worked with children who didn't have good parents.

"I hate the Biker Mice," Chassis says suddenly. "I know they've done a lot for Mars and Earth and all that. It's just wherever they are, they just seem to bring some sort of destruction with them."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, a lot of things break for one thing."

"That's mostly Vinnie's fault and that tends to happen in battle. You of all people should know that." Carbine pats Roses back hoping that she would give her a good burp.

"How do you know we can trust them? How do we know they have Mars as a priority?"

"I think we'd know by now. We'd been wiped from the map," Carbine reassures him. "I know I say a lot of hateful things about Throttle and he deserves most of the flak I give him, but he and his bros are probably the only reason we're still alive right now. And unfortunately they're the only ones who have the most experience with Limburger and his tactics."

"I just… I just worry that you still love him," Chassis says. He digs a socked toe into the carpet. His white ears droop.

"Don't be silly. I make his life miserable every chance I get. You don't do that to someone you love. Well, not like make his life hell, but in the military, I'm your superior officer kind of way. He hurt me. Why would I ever go back to that when I have someone as kind as you to take care of me?" Carbine answers she reaches out and touches his shoulder.

 _I've never known you to settle_. Throttles voices echoes through her mind.

Intense sadness wells up inside her, like she's giving up a part of herself. She pushes it away. Throttle has no idea what he's talking about. He's never had to make any kind of important sacrifice in his life. Sure he spent several years on earth, but he knew that was a possibility. He'd chosen the people over earth over his own planet.

"What am I supposed to do Carbine? Just let them die? They, meaning the humans, have no idea what they're up against. They don't have the technology to even defend themselves from him. Limburger would suck that planet dry in a matter of weeks if we weren't there to stop him." Throttle cried.

"But what about me?"

"What about you?" Throttle demands. "Carbine I love you but sometimes you fail to see the bigger picture."

No Throttle, you're the one who sees the bigger picture. She thinks. I'm never letting you have Rose as long as I'm alive.

"What are you thinking about?" Chassis asks. "You look angry."

Carbine shakes her head. "Nothing. Just something that happened at work today. I forgot what assholes the Martian military is to deal with."

Chassis chuckles. "Yeah. That is true. I don't miss dealing with the red tape that comes with it. Is she asleep?"

"Yeah, she's dozed off." Carbine shifts her position carefully as not to wake her. "How long was she crying?"

"Not long. Mother left and I thought that maybe I should get dinner started. I guess I made too much noise and then I couldn't get to her because my hands were full and there was something on the stove. If I left it, it would burn. Well, that's not true. I left her once to look in on her. I must have lingered one second too long because everything started to burn."

"I'm not much of a cook," Carbine admits.

"Yeah, I know." He playfully punches her shoulder. "I thought I should at least learn. Someone has to wear the apron around here and make sure we don't starve."

"There's always k rations." She shrugs. "I grew up eating them. After my dad left, my mom fell in love with a guy in the military. She was of course the other woman, but he used to bring us food. I wanted his approval so bad."

Carbine stands and then puts Rose back in her crib.

"How come you don't talk about your childhood much?"

She shrugs. "There's nothing much to tell. It was hard. We were poor. When I joined the army things get better. I had a life and a purpose. That was enough, and I was good at it. I'm good at follow directions. There's only black and white. No gray."

"Stoker's your uncle right?"

"Yes, on my mother's side. But they were estranged for a long time. They didn't like my dad. They thought he was a dead beat. In a way, I guess they were right." She places her hands on her hips. "He betrayed my mom and left her for another woman. Stoker almost killed him when he found out. My mom didn't want his help. After all, they abandoned us the last time."

 _Just like Throttle chose his bros over me. Every single time._

Chassis wraps his arms around her shoulders. "Well, you don't have to worry about that. I'm going to stay right here. Come on, let's go see if we can salvage some of my cooking."

 **A/N: Please review. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n:** I do not own the Biker Mice From Mars.

Throttle and his bros walk into Stoker's office, or what was supposed to be his office. It seemed more like a catch-all than an actual office. Various parts for weapons and motorcycle parts are scattered across the room in various heaps. It's like Charley's shop but much worse, he thinks.

Modo give him a questioning look and Throttle just shrugs. "Is he slipping again?" Modo asks.

"Stoker?" Throttle calls. "You in here?"

"There you are," Stoker says brightly appearing out from underneath a motorcycle. "I have a mission for you if you choose to accept it. Captain Astoria is holding a class on ground work later today."

Vinnie's ears pick up. "That hot thing that Throttle was talking to in the chow hall?"

"You mean Captain Astoria?" Throttle answers.

"You don't want to disrespect the lady," Modo says.

"Make a bad impression." Throttle agrees. "Though I dunno. Carbine's done a pretty good job of that. It'd be pretty hard to top that."

"I've never seen her snap like that," Stoker muses stroking his chin.

"Well, you brought in another person without telling her. I'd me mad too," Vinnie answers.

"Yeah, but the person you're in a relationship didn't betray Mars to a foreign government and destroyed most of the planet." Stoker agrees.

"You make bad decisions when you're lonely and desperate," Throttle snorts.

"You're not bitter about this at all, are you bro?" Vinnie chuckles.

Throttle opens his mouth to retort, but Stoker cuts him off. "Let it go. Bitterness isn't becoming on you. I don't need my army divided by some lover's spat."

Ouch.

"We've got bigger problems," Stoker continues. "The scanners have been picking up Catatonian scouts in the last twenty-four hours."

"You want us to check it out?" Vinnie asks.

"Well, they're a ways off. At least they were this morning. A few officers gave a half hearted chase. They weren't in the mood to stick around and cause trouble.

"My Momma always said keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."

"Big fella's got a point," Throttle agrees.

"If you guys want to, I won't complain." Stoker says. "Should probably check with Carbine for confirmation."

"Maybe we'll just…. Accidentally stumble upon them," Vinnie says "while getting some… fresh air."

"Yeah, I'm feeling a little stir crazy?" Modo says. He elbows Throttle. "What about you?"

Throttle feels his forehead with his palm. "I think I might have a fever and the only prescription is—"

"More cowbell?" Stoker offers.

"Well, I was going to say fresh air," Throttle shrugs. "But you know, that works too."

About ten minutes later the Biker Mice along with Rimfire are ready to go. It's the Biker Mice's turn to go on patrol on the west side of the base. This is the area most damaged by Plutarkian fire. The ground is still charred from the explosions and fire. The once green ground is marred by tracks from digging machines and other machinery Limburger and Stilton used to to destroy the land to strip Mars of it's resources.

"Let's rock and ride!" Throttle says revving his engine. He, Modo and Vinnie get ready to set off.

"Wait!" Stoker appears lugging a very large pink seed plant. "Vinnie, I need you to take this."

"Wh— what?" Vinnie chokes out. "Why?"

"Someone needs to keep this alive for me and you're just the mouse for the job." Stoker sets the plant on the back of his bike. "One of the recruits tried to destroy it earlier. Tried to set it on fire. As you can see, the leaves are a bit singed."

"And you're giving this to Vinnie?" Modo asks. "He can't keep himself alive half of the time, let alone a pink seed plant."

"This plant has to go everywhere with you. In no circumstance does it leave your sight. When you go to the bathroom she has to go. When you shower, she needs to take a shower. And when you sleep. She sleeps."

"It better not watch me."

Stoker ties it down with a bungee cord. "When you make love, she better be there cheering you on, or else there will be hell to pay."

Vinnie's ears droop. "But why me? That's not hero stuff."

"Ah, but you are protecting this pink seed's honor." Stoker answers as he ties it down with bungee cords. "Girls dig that."

"How are you going to know if I don't?"

"Simple. I installed a tracking device on it."

"You should read it bedtime stories," Throttle titters. "I hear plants like when you do that. It makes them grow big and strong."

Vinnie rolls his eyes. "Fine. How long do I have to do this for?"

"Until I say stop." Stoker stands back to admire his handy work. "That should hold her."

"Her?"

"Yeah. Her name's 'Sweetheart.'" Stoker playfully elbows him in the ribs. "You didn't think she didn't have a name, did you?"

Vinnie's expression downturns. "You think you're being funny, punk?"

Both Modo and Throttle cough to hide laughs.

"Is that the way you talk to one of your superiors?" Stoker says putting on the finishing touches strapping the plant to the back of his bike. "Keep Sweetheart safe. General Carbine's orders." He pats the back of his bike. Throttle revves his engine. "Let's go and make sure this area is safe."

As they drive, Throttle only half listens to the conversation between Vinnie, Modo, and Rimfire. His mind is on Astoria and what she's doing. Probably training recruits and learning the ropes her as potentially second commands. He wonders if she'd like to go with a ride with him sometime. Throttle shakes his head clearing his head. Best wait for this whole thing with Carbine to settle down and not make Astoria a target for her wrath.

"Boy, Carbine was sure pissed off this morning." Modo says jolting Throttle out of his thoughts.

"You would have thought after pregnancy the rage would have settled down a little bit," Vinnie says. "I almost feel sorry for what's his name. Almost."

"But if he would have wrapped it up, he wouldn't have this problem." Rimfire adds.

"Be a real man. Be responsible," Modo answers.

Throttle doesn't say anything. Carbine lied to him. She said she was taking precautions. Well, what's done is done. Nothing he can do at this point.

"Do you find it interesting she kept the baby?" Rimfire asks. "I mean, given her personality."

"Can we talk about something else?" Throttle asks. "Like, I don't know. The new officers or something?"

"You mean Astoria?"

"Well, not specifically her. Movies? Hanson's new Christmas album? Really, anything is fine besides Carbine."

Vinnie makes a face. "No, let's not talk about Hanson."

"Hanson has a new Christmas— hey, how do you know about that?" Modo frowns.

"How do you?" Rimfire asks matching his tone.

Throttle chuckles. "Charley was talking about it earlier. If we were paying attention Vincent, you would have known."

"Oh yeah. Charley says there's a lot of good movies that have come out recently. I'm looking forward to going back to see him," Modo says.

"I wish she could come here," Vinnie says. "Not to visit. I mean she can. I don't care, but I wish she would stay."

"She has a business to run," Modo says.

"Besides," Throttle reminds him. "Limburger could come back. We need that contact on Earth should he ever decide to set up shop again in Chicago. It wouldn't be that easy."

"I don't know if Charley ma'am would be happy here," Modo says. "She's so used to doing things her own way."

"Yeah, she might be decimated by Carbine," Vinnie adds. "And I wouldn't be able to stand by and let that happen." He takes a sharp turn spraying red dirt everywhere.

"Careful, don't want to dislodge Sweetheart," Throttle warns. "Her life is in your hands."

"Just think, she's a gift for Charley Girl," Rimfire answers.

"Quiet you." Vinnie snaps. "We aren't that serious."

"You and Charley or you and the pink seed plant?" Modo guffaws. "I would think that would be a little awkward."

"Doesn't the pink seed have thorns?" Rimfire asks. "I think it does. That would make things awkward, but at least she doesn't snore."

Vinnie tries to swat Rimfire, but he moves out of the way easily. He and Vinnie break off from the rest of the patrol as Vinnie gives chase to Rimfire. "You leave Sweetheart alone. It's not her fault."

"Every rose has its thorn." Modo and Throttle sing in unison. Vinnie glares that them both and leaves them in a puff of dust.

A ding followed by a vibration pulls Throttle's attention to his bike. He checks his radar and notices that there are a trio of non-Freedom Fighter or Martian army vehicles up ahead.

"Look what we got here Bros," Throttle says as the three of them ride up on a ridge. Below them are three Plutarkians on four wheelers.

"They aren't even bothering to hide their stench," Modo says waving his hand in front of his face.

"Well, should we go say hello?" Throttle asks.

"I've always loved being a part of the welcoming committee," Vinnie answers. "We should help boost their moral a little bit," Modo agrees." They look a little down in the dumps."

"Let's rock and ride!"

The three rev their engines. A squeal of tires and they're off. Startled the Plutarkians pull out their guns and start shooting. The Bros return fire and lead them through the stripped Martian landscape. Throttle and Modo double back and shoot at the search party while Vinnie leads them on a wild goose chase. Vinnie ducks and weaves around making two of the cars crash into each other. "Nice!" Throttle exclaims.

Suddenly, the third one comes up behind him. A shot singes the hair on his arm. Throttle grunts in pain. He looks over and blood runs down his arm. Modo hangs back and takes out the driver with his metal arm the car swerve forcing Throttle over another ridge. The bike goes over the ridge, tossing him over the bike slides scraping his side and his arm. Finally his descent is stopped by a large rock. Throttle picks up his bike and sets it upright. Modo and Vinnie come to his side.

"You all right?" Modo asks.

"I think Sweetheart got singed." He points to the plant on the back of Vinnie's bike.

"She's throwing off my groove," he complains.

"What is a Plutarkian scout party doing all the way out here?" Modo asks.

"I thought he said Catatonian?" Rimfire said. "That's what the report said."

"That must have been a typo," Modo says jerking a thumb behind him. "Because that was certainly fish that we fried back there."

"That's a pretty big typo," Throttle answers.

"Yeah, that's a couple of alien races off kind of typo," Vinnie answers. He turns around and examines the pink seed plant. "Man, half the leaves are missing."

"We should get back to the base and tell Stoker."

"What about we go crash their party?" Vinnie says.

He shakes his head. "We can't do things the way we do things on Earth. There's a chain of command." Throttle turns his bike towards the base, "besides Carbine is already pissed at me. I don't need to give her another reason. And you don't want to put Sweetheart in any more danger than you have to."

The Biker Mice turn their bikes and head back to the base.

"I have access to that memo on my com," Rimfire says. "I had a feeling something was off about it and wanted to ask Stoker about it, but I haven't had the chance."

Throttle stops at an overhang. "Can I see it?"

Rimfire unhooks his com from his belt and touches a few things on the screen. Then he hands it to Throttle. "It makes for good reading to pass the time when you're taking a dump."

"Oh, so that's why it takes you so long on the can. You're catching on briefings," Modo says.

"Yeah, and I'm multi-tasking. Reading my briefings and taking a dump."

"And here I was thinking you were playing some sort of game."

"You're mother would be so proud," Throttle says dryly as he skims the memo. "Hm… it only mentions the Catatonians, nothing about about Plutarkians."

"Huh," Modo grunts. "I guess we better skip along and go."

"Wonder what they want," Vinnie says. "Last I heard Limburger was stewing around in jail."

"Hm. We need to talk to whoever was on patrol earlier in the day because if it's both we've got a big problem on our hands," Throttle answers.

"I can track 'em down, " Rimfire volunteers.

The mice rev their engines and head back to the base. Throttle tries to shove the feeling of dread that fills him. Crossing Carbine for a third time in less than twenty-four hour period isn't on his to do list. Two out of two times she had laid into him. Outlook isn't favorable for this third time.

"Who should we tell besides Stoker?" Rimfire asks. "Astoria?"

"Well, she is second in command around here," Vinnie says. "It seems like she'd know what to do."

"You seem close with her. Maybe you should do it," Modo says.

"Yeah. It'd be good for you." Vinne says unstrapping the plant from the back of his bike. "Get back out there in the dating pool."

Throttle holds up his hands. "There's a big difference between asking someone out on a date and telling someone Mars has a Plutark infestation again."

"There was a Plutarkian scout party a hundred or so miles away, but enough about that. Let's grab a root beer." Rimfire shrugs. "See. It works."

 **Feedback is appreciated.**


End file.
